L.K. Advani - BJP's IT Vision - Transforming Bharat

BJP’s IT VISION TRANSFORMING BHARAT Advani for PM BharatiyaBharatiya Janata Party Janata Party

@ HIGHLIGHTS OF BJP’S IT VISION @ Multipurpose National Identity Card with Citizen Identification Number (CIN) in 3 years; to replace all other identification systems. @ 1.2 crore new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas. @ Raise farm productivity, bring cost of cultivation down and increase kisans’ income through revolutionary transformation of agriculture using IT for water conservation, soil enrichment, procurement, marketing and credit needs of kisans’, waste elimination, and taking R&D from ‘lab to land’. @ Taking the benefits of IT to all shops, small and medium enterprises (SME), and the informal sector. @ 1 crore students to get laptop computers at Rs 10,000. Interest-free loan for anyone unable to afford it. @ All schools and colleges to have internet-enabled education. @ National Mission for Promotion of IT in Indian Languages. @ Broadband Internet in every town and village, with unlimited upload and download data transfer limits, at cable TV prices. @ Mobile penetration to be raised in five years from 40 crore to 100 crore subscribers. As many Internet users as mobile users. Every BPL family to be given free smart mobile phone. @ 100% financial inclusion through Bank accounts, with eBanking facilities, for all Indian citizens. Direct transfer of welfare funds. Our promise: Har Hindustani ka Bank Account; Har BPL parivar ko Smart Mobile Phone. Har goan mein broadband service; Har school mein Internet shiksha. @ A basic health insurance scheme for every citizen, using the IT platform. Cash-less hospitalisation. @ All PHCs to be connected to a National Telemedicine Service Network. @ National eGovernance Plan to cover every Government office from the Centre to the Panchayats. The ‘E-Gram Vishwa Gram’ scheme in Gujarat to be implemented nationwide.

@ HIGHLIGHTS OF BJP’S IT VISION @ India to equal China in every IT parameter in five years. @ National Digital Highway Development Project and Pradhan Mantri Digital Gram Sadak Yojana to create a next-generation network infrastructure that supports converged media: data, voice, and high-definition video. @ Unrestricted VoIP would be implemented immediately. @ Post Offices to be turned into IT-enabled Multi-Service Outlets. Telephone booths to be upgraded to internet kiosks. @ Citizens will have a simple 1-800 BSNL Toll Free Number, which is accessible 24 x 7x 365 days of the year, to contact their Member of Parliament. @ Government of India to standardise on ‘open standard’ and ‘open source’ software. An IT standards-setting body would be spun out of BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). @ Video-conferencing to be made affordable and universally accessible. @ Land and property records to be digitised; use of GPS for this purpose. @ An independent body, Digital Security Agency, to be set up for cyber warfare, cyber counter-terrorism, and cyber security of national digital assets. @ Domestic IT hardware industry to be promoted to minimise dependence on imports. @ Domestic hosting industry to be promoted to minimise international bandwith charges. @ Special focus to bring women, SC/STs, OBCs and other weaker sections of society within the ambit of IT-enabled development. @ Use of IT for the protection of India’s priceless cultural and artistic heritage.

IT 360o : BJP’s Resolve to Transform India, Empower Bharat Dear Friends, I am pleased to present to you my party’s IT Vision, ahead of the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. The Bharatiya Janata Party believes that the revolution ushered in by Information and Communication Technologies has provided India with an unique opportunity to overcome the many daunting challenges in socio-economic development. The opportunity is all the greater, given the size of India’s population and, especially, the existing and projected population of educated young people. India’s youth is its greatest resource. The BJP is committed to enriching and empowering this resource for building a strong and prosperous nation. India’s progress and prosperity in the past ten years owes a great deal to IT. The BJP heartily applauds the accomplishments of our ambitious entrepreneurs and talented professionals in the IT sector. However, India’s achievements in IT and IT-enabled development so far are just a fraction of what is possible and necessary. Our best is certainly yet to come. The BJP, as the head of the NDA government (1998-2004) under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is proud of its contribution to the growth of Digital Connectivity in India. The NDA government laid the foundation for the explosive growth in the telecom sector with its farsighted New Telecom Policy. The policy boosted our software and IT-enabled services industry. It also helped India become the world’s second largest mobile phone market. The Prime Minister’s National IT Task Force helped India’s software industry emerge as a global leader. For the first time, a separate Department of Information Technology was established, which, 02

among other things, drew up the National Plan for e-Governance. In seeking a mandate from the people in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP presents an even more ambitious vision on how to use IT to make a tangible difference to the life of every Indian. BJP’s 360-degree vision offers a new IT-enabled economic model for India which is more relevant to the Indian reality of socio-cultural diversity, large number of diverse enterprises and geographically distributed markets, all of which calls for greater emphasis on localising the economy. Whereas much of our software industry labours to make foreign economies more competitive, a BJP-led government will create a new policy climate where we use technology mainly for India’s — I would add, Bharat’s — sustainable development. Specifically, this will mean a radical shift of emphasis in favour of agriculture, rural economy, infrastructure development, small and medium enterprises, informal sector of the economy, affordable healthcare for all, meaningful education for all, transparent governance, improved productivity, energy efficiency and security, environmental protection, safety, better justice delivery, and, last but not the least, NATIONAL SECURITY, both internal and external. Our overarching goal is a better quality of life in every part of India and for every section of our society. “If China has beaten the world The BJP’s IT Vision will help India (a) overcome the current economic crisis; (b) create productive in the physical infrastructure, employment opportunities on a large scale; (c) accelerate human development through vastly India can beat the world in the IT improved and expanded education and healthcare services; (d) check corruption and (e) make infrastructure.” India’s national security more robust. For this, India will create a Next Generation Internet Network with enough bandwidth in every corner of our country, however remote. Internet will become as ubiquitous as electricity. With this, the economic and geographical disparities will melt away, and each citizen will have equal opportunities. The new IT infrastructure will empower homes and enlighten minds – integrating India into an egalitarian, harmonious and happy nation. This is the BJP’s vision, is a part of our broader vision of making the 21st Century India’s Century. The BJP and NDA seek the support of the people of India in the coming elections. I assure you that a future NDA Government will implement this IT Vision with the speed, vigour, ambition and determination that our young IT professionals have demonstrated so splendidly in recent years. 03

Connectivity demitted office in May 2004, 25,000 kms of 4/6 lane highways were under construction, with a completion rate of 11 kms per day. Similarly, when Shri Vajpayee launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Revolution on his birthday (December 25) in 2000, many doubted his promise to connect every Indian village with good roads. After all, as many as 1,86,000 villages, out of a total of 6,00,000, had still remained deprived of roads after more than five decades “Let a Hundred Bangalores Bloom.” of Independence. “By building these highways and rural This was the call given by former Prime roads,” Shri Vajpayee once Carrying forward an unfinished task Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee A said, “we are not just drawing when he inaugurated the Software new lines on the map of India. mbition is the Technology Park in Bangalore in Rather, we are re-writing the mother of November 1998. Sure enough, the bhagya rekha (lines of destiny) success. To past decade has seen the growth of IT of India and its people.” aim small in Indian businesses in many Indian cities — from conditions, a popular “Connectivity Revolution” Pune to Patna, from Coimbatore to former President of is what described the India once remarked, is Chandigarh; and from Gandhinagar overarching vision of the a crime. to Guwahati. NDA Government, which had projected the goal of When former Prime making India a ‘Developed Nation’ by 2020. The vision encompassed Physical Minister Shri Atal Bihari Connectivity (expansion and modernization of India’s road and rail networks, Vajpayee inaugurated inland waterways, and the infrastructure of ports, airports and civil aviation) as the National Highway well as Digital Connectivity (telecom and information technology infrastructure Development Project Former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee at and services). In addition, it had also drawn up a plan for River Connectivity. (NHDP) on 2 January Infosys campus, January 2001 2000, declaring that Sadly, the five years of the UPA rule have proved to be a wasted period in India would have a network of world-class highways, within five years, terms of realizing this Connectivity Revolution. As the BJP seeks the pepole’s there were many naysayers who said that such ambition was misplaced in mandate in the 2009 elections, it pledges to fulfill the incomplete tasks set by the India. But the NDA Government proved them wrong. In the first 50 years Vajpayee Government. It will also take India much farther ahead on the road of of Independence, only 556 kms of 4/6 lane highways had been built in all-round development. India at the rate of 11 kms per year. By the time the NDA Government 05

IT for Change citizens everywhere. So far, the amazing benefits of IT have been visible only in ‘India’. Most of ‘Bharat’ remains untouched by IT. The BJP will bridge this Digital Divide. A good example is the ‘E Gram Vishwa Gram’ scheme launched by the BJP government in Gujarat (see page 16). When a scheme like this is implemented all over the country, with the provision of broadband connectivity and all How IT will change Bharat’s Development Paradigm the attendant IT-enabled services in every Indian village —a future BJP-led T government is committed to rolling it out nationwide — it will ensure significant he current global economic crisis is the surest sign that the empowerment of the rural population. It will thus contribute to fulfilling the world is changing rapidly. The West’s monopoly over the world concept of PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas), which was economy will soon be a thing of the past. The crisis presents popularized by India’s former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. new opportunities and challenges for India. How do we overcome the challenges and maximize the opportunities? The answer lies in the The Green Revolution in the 1960s and the White Revolution in the 1970s, observation made by Shri L.K. Advani, while addressing the 81st annual though beneficial, were limited in their scope. In contrast, the BJP’s vision of the general meeting of FICCI in February 2009: “Just as the centre of gravity Digital Revolution is all-encompassing. As this document attests, it can impact of the world economy is shifting from the West to Asia, the centre of every facet of economic and social development — from manufacturing to gravity of gravity of our national economy must shift from ‘India’ to agriculture, from education to telemedicine, from e-justice to e-security, from ‘Bharat’— to the revitalization of agriculture, rural economy, small and aiding women’s self-help groups to planning energy-saving bus routes, and from medium enterprises, and the organized and informal sectors.” protection of our cultural heritage to strengthening of democracy through good governance. ‘Bharat’ means not only the rural population, but also the urban poor and middle-classes. They have been left behind in the development model of Trust the BJP. This Digital Revolution is possible. IT can indeed Congress governments, who have ruled our country for the longest period transform India and empower Bharat. since Independence. Congress rule has created the legacy of an alarming India’s shining achievements in the IT sector so far urban-rural divide in India, besides a rich-poor divide in urban areas. have been achieved by only a small section of our The BJP believes that Information Technology is one of the most effective talented youth, who have been empowered with good tools for the rapid shift in India’s development paradigm, in favour of education. Imagine what India can achieve when balanced regional and social development. It is not a substitute for the every young Indian has access to quality education essential physical infrastructure and services such as power, water, roads, and world-class IT infrastructure. railways, urban and rural amenities, etc. Nevertheless, IT not only enhances - L.K. Advani efficiency and productivity in every sector of India’s economic and social development, but also gives altogether new tools for the empowerment of 07

Employment least 20 new employment and self-employment opportunities in each village. These jobs and local entrepreneurship opportunities can be created in following areas: • Agriculture, value-added agribusinesses, animal husbandry, land and water management; • Rural markets, market linkages with nearby towns and cities, banking and Employment, more employment, still more employment… micro-finance services; T • Modernization of rural arts, crafts and industries; he BJP recognizes that one of the biggest challenges before • Internet-enabled education, and skill development of the rural workforce; India is to provide adequate employment opportunities to its • Telemedicine; IT-enabled veterinary services; large and growing young population. According to the Planning • Panchayat-based E-governance initiatives, community monitoring of Commission’s data, the rate of unemployment has increased since the NREGS and other government schemes; advent of economic liberalization, the increase being higher among • Efficient maintenance of power, drinking water and other utilities; agricultural labour households. The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) • Local community-based infotainment, document records that job creation under the NDA Government was • Common Service Centres (for online payment of bills, accessing of citizen- much higher than that under its predecessors. “From 1999-2000 to 2004- related information, etc); 05, about 4.7 crore work opportunities were created as compared to only • Rural content creation in local languages for all these diverse applications; 2.4 crore in the previous period of 1993-94 to 1999-2000”. Under the • Rural BPOs, supported by universally accessible broadband Internet at UPA rule, not only did the rate of growth of new employment dip, but rock-bottom prices, to service the needs of the external economy. even existing jobs have come under threat. There are nearly 6 lakh villages in India. Hence, it is possible to create at least A dominant trend in the Indian economy in the past two decades is 1.2 crore new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas. If all this is possible, the possibility “informalisation” of the workforce. The informal and unorganized sector must be translated into reality. The BJP has the vision and the will to do so. now accounts for 93% of the workforce. Sadly, it is not supported by any structural system of education or skill upgradation, as a result of Hkktik dk oknk % lHkh dk IT ls ukrk which both incomes and labour productivity are low. The Eleventh Plan document records: “Out of 46 crore workers, 9.4 crore earn so little that gj fgUnqLrkuh dk cSad [kkrk they are below the poverty line. If that is the lot of employed workers, the gj BPL ifjokj dks LekVZ Qksu lot of the poor, who are unemployed, must be worse.” Obviously, India cannot rely on conventional strategies for poverty alleviation employment gj xkaako esa czkWMcSaM lqfo/kk generation or creation of better-educated and skilled manpower. gj Ldwy esa baVjusV f'k{kk The BJP believes that IT can, and must, be used as a strategic tool to create large-scale employment opportunities both in rural and urban areas. A strong push for IT in the following areas can create, on an average, at 09

MNIC: Pivot of the Registrar General of the Census of India and that of the UIAI to set up a Citizenship Regulatory Authority of India of our Digital (CRAI). The CRAI would be responsible for maintaining a National Register of Citizenship (NRC), and keeping it current up to the minute. Strategy Based on the NRC, CRAI Proof of the UPA Government’s apathy: the MNIC would issue each citizen an website is still under construction! MNIC with a unique Citizen Identification Number (CIN). CRAI would maintain a 24x7 online presence and enable government, law enforcement and authorised private institutions to T let their computer systems “look up” the MNIC database in real time. he centrepiece of the implementation of the BJP’s IT Vision is the Multipurpose National Identity Card (MNIC). As the name The amended Citizenship Act would make it mandatory under law for all suggests, MNIC would be a single document that could be used as citizens to acquire an MNIC, and parents of newly born infants would have to proof of identity in multiple situations such as applying for a BPL card or apply for one for their child, immediately after the baby’s birth. driver’s licence or passport, or even applying for college admission. MNIC is expected to have multiple benefits, such as: The MNIC programme was started by the BJP-led NDA Government in its last tenure (1998-2004). Shri L.K. Advani who was then India’s Home 1. Removal of the need for ordinary citizens to carry multiple identification Minister, was its strongest votary. But the UPA Government has dragged documents. its feet on the project, and five years later has nothing to show for it. Even 2. Ability of institutions and law enforcement agencies to do an instant check the project website (http://mnic.nic.in) is shown as “under construction”! and validation of anyone’s identity. Only in January 2009 did the UPA Government make a token attempt to 3. Tracking of tax collection and disbursal of welfare schemes. be seen as responsive on this issue when it set up a Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) as an attached office under the aegis of the The BJP promises to complete the MNIC rollout 3 years of taking office. Planning Commission. Against this slipshod and half-hearted attempt of the UPA Government, a future BJP-led NDA Government would give this programme topmost priority. We would amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to combine the offices 11

Digital the end-user actually gets 256 Kbps of throughput. Unfortunately, when ISPs promise ‘broadband’, they share the same bandwidth pipe with multiple users, as a result of which most users in India receive only a fraction of the bandwidth promised to them. A BJP-led NDA Government would redefine broadband to Highways mean 2 Mbps with a 1:1 contention ratio. RICH MEDIA FOR EDUCATION, HEALTH & ENTERTAINMENT This redefinition of the term broadband would ensure that every Indian— whether in the cities or in the villages—would be able to get themselves F checked by a doctor at a remote location through the telemedicine network; or MNIC and other programmes to run successfully, it is important video conference with one another; and even see television-on-demand (IPTV). that the country has a good computing and network infrastructure. Farmers could be trained over video-conference by extension officers, as could Two things are implied by this: a national Internet backbone and school teachers by professors of education. And the law permitting, even last-mile connectivity to even the most remote and sparsely populated testimonials of witnesses can be procured online. The opportunities are just village. enormous. The BJP-led NDA Government would initiate the creation of a fault- EXTENDING THE COVERAGE OF TELEPHONY resilient, redundant-capacity, national Internet backbone. At the same time, any village that is not covered by commercial ISPs (Internet service The BJP wants the people of India to enjoy the benefits of very low telephony providers) would be provided Internet service under a government- rates that enable even the poorest of the poor to be ‘connected’. Therefore, the supported scheme. BJP agrees with the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the implementation of ‘unrestricted’ VoIP (Voice over IP). If REDEFINING BROADBAND a BJP-led NDA Government assumes power, VoIP would be made legal and the necessary roll-out plan worked out. VoIP would allow ordinary Indians to The BJP wants the people of India to enjoy the benefits of the Internet, make national long distance (NLD) and international long distance (ILD) at and the access to rich visual information that is made possible through the close-to-local charges. use of a good broadband connection. MOBILE TELEPHONY Sadly in India, the term ‘broadband’ has lost all relevance. For many people the ‘world wide web’ is still ‘world wide wait’. First of all, the The BJP promises to bring in the right policy prescriptions to take the mobile Indian definition of broadband is a measly 256 Kbps as opposed to the subscriber base from the current 40 crores to 100 crores in five years. And by 2 Mbps definition in most developed countries. Secondly, even 256 Kbps implementing 3G (3rd generation) mobile networks, these billion subscribers of pure bandwidth is good enough for most data applications, provided would not only be able to make voice calls but also video calls. 13

eGovernance e-Governance initiative on 15 August 2002. Unfortunately, implementation of this plan has badly lagged behind under the UPA rule. A future BJP-led Government will implement eGovernance in its most comprehensive form at all levels of government — from the Centre to each panchayat. Here are our for Good specific assurances: • Taking government to the door of every citizen in the country. • Making available government services online and in local languages in Governance every village and town. As against the UPA’s unfulfilled target of 100,000 Common Services Centres (CSCs), the NDA promises to create CSCs in each of the nearly 6,00,000 villages in India. • Complete transparency in provision of services and individual accountability of government servants. • Full financial inclusion by opening a bank account for every citizen. Money N due to citizens will be directly credited into the beneficiary’s bank account, preferably into the account of the woman of the household. o political party in India has espoused the cause of Good • All Government-to-Citizen (G-C), Government-to-Government (G- Governance as vigorously and consistently as the BJP. When Shri G) and Government-to-Business (G-B) transactions will be conducted Lal Krishna Advani undertook the Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra electronically, with the objective of moving towards paperless governance. in 1997 to commemorate the golden jubilee of India’s Independence, To begin with, paperless work-culture will be introduced in all the ministries his principal message to the people was this: “The goal of swaraj (self- of the central government. governance) was attained fifty years ago. But why has the dream of su-raj • RTI to have an additional component of DTI (Duty to Inform citizens) by (good governance) remained unfulfilled so far?” making all citizen-related information mandatorily available to citizens even without their seeking it. As far as the ordinary people are concerned, Good Governance means • Content in local languages is the ‘heart’ of eGovernance. Government honest, corruption-free, citizen-friendly and participative governance. It agencies will be mandated to ensure local - language content. means that citizens are respected, their voice is heard and administration • Citizens will have a simple 1-800 BSNL Toll Free Number, which is accessible conducts itself as a servant of the people and not as its master. This goal 24 x 7x 365 days of the year, to contact their Member of Parliament. can be attained only by introducing far-reaching administrative, judicial, political and electoral reforms. Also required is a major transformation Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, occupies a special place in the in the mindset of the government machinery. An important additional Indian psyche. Ganesha’s mouse is his ubiquitous vehicle. In its modern avatar, requirement is the use of IT in governance, since it promotes transparency, the digital mouse is the instrument that people have in their hands to overcome accountability, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, innovation and participation the traditional obstacles in dealing with government. The BJP promises obstacle- of citizens. free governance, by empowering the citizens with eGovernance. Former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the National 15

at providing broadband connectivity to all the 13,693 gram panchayats of Gujarat. On the lines of Netaji’s clarion call of ‘Dilli Chalo’, Shri Modi gave a call of ‘Gaon Chalo’ for the all-round development of villages. Important features of the E Gram Vishwa Gram project are: • Launching of “Pavan Channel” — Panchayat Wide Area Network. • E-Utsav for the Rural Masses in all the Villages. • Gram Panchayat to issue citizen related documents and certificates, and application forms for various development and welfare schemes, including 7/12 certificates to the farmers from panchayats. • Video Conferencing and Video Broadcasting facilities at all the villages. • VSAT-based broadband connectivity. • Free of cost communication between panchayats. • Common Service Centre facility for providing education, telemedicine, veterinary services, market linkage and other agriculture-related services to kisans, payment of electricity and telephone bills, issuance of death and birth certificates, land ownership records, postal services. ‘E Gram Vishwa Gram’: Gujarat’s pioneering project that • Villagers may take advantage of Internet and email services. BJP pledges to implement nationwide • Reservation and purchase of bus and railway tickets. E Gram Vishwa Gram will also help control corruption since all transactions The Government of Gujarat, under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, between government and citizens will be computerised. has heralded a new era of technology-enabled rural empowerment. It was launched from Haripura village in South Gujarat on the birth anniversary of After successfully providing 24X7 electricity to every village in Gujarat under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 2009), with Shri Modi giving a call for the Jyotigram scheme, the BJP government in the state has, for the first time in ‘Su-Rajya’ (Good Governance). It was from this historic village that Netaji had India, embarked upon a project to link every village with the Global Village, so given the call for ‘Swarajya’ (Self-Governance) in 1938. that every rural household can avail the advantages of modern science and information technology. The ambitious E-Gram Vishwa Gram (E-Village, Global Village) project aims e-Galla: Empowering the kirana shopkeeper great institution that is extremely frugal and efficient in the use of its resources to get provisions out to the “aam-aadmi”. It is necessary to capitalise on the strengths of the kirana store network — namely, the last-mile connect with Galla, a project of IIT Bombay’s Developmental Informatics Lab, seeks to use the customer and personalized service using the knowledge it has about its IT to network small shopkeepers and to give them the advantage of scale in customer base. Conceived with this in mind, Project Galla has produced an their operations (mainly stocking, billing and CRM or Customer Relationship integrated special purpose hardware device with associated software and Management). The goal is not only to protect employment in this sector but multilingual user interfaces for end-to-end shop automation solutions targeted also to create a win-win situation for consumers and the small vendors. At a time at small retailers. Also under development is an integrated environment for when globalisation has placed many threats and challenges before India’s small retailers to offer their items in a consolidated manner in cyber space. unorganized retail shopkeepers, it is important that India uses IT to empower this 16

Agrocom: an IIT-incubated weather- system that permits measurement of parameters such as temperature, humidity and leaf-wetness for the purposes of farm-level disease forecasting, weather forecasting technology helps Nasik’s record validation for weather insurance and weather forecasts for decision grape-growers save upto Rs. 1 lakh support. Agrocom has showed that using the disease forecasts arising out of its per acre 30 weather stations in Nasik Valley farmers can save 10-30% of their costs and at the same time reduce pesticide and chemical content in their agri-products. Grape farmers are saving Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 Lakh per acre in reduced sprays and Agrocom is a startup company being incubated better quality produce with lower residues. The latter is especially noteworthy at IIT Bombay. In addition to providing professional given strict international norms set for agri-exports support to aAqua technology for rural use, it has set up mini-weather stations (each with a catchment of 25 sq. kilometres) that are part of an innovative aAqua : How IT helps kisans’ questions answered by expert 17000 posts from 7000 individual farmers, users from farmer organizations, small and medium-sized agribusinesses, and larger companies. Questions have kisans come in from 290 of India’s more than 600 districts as well as from members around the world. Experts from several KVKs and agri-universities respond to aAQUA is a discussion forum that provides answers to questions relating to users’ queries. a variety of topics of interest to India’s rural population — from agriculture and animal husbandry to education and entrepreneurship. Launched as a In a typical aAQUA discussion thread, a farmer submits a problem, and collaborative effort by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, a Krishi agriculture experts or other farmers provide solutions. Currently, users can post Vigyan Kendra in Maharashtra and Vigyan Ashram in Pabal, near Pune, the a question through the Web site (www.aaqua.org), via email, or via mobile effort attempts to build a bridge between knowledgeable agriculturists and SMS texting. Any noncommercial user can browse the forums for free. knowledge-seeking users. As of April 2009, the aAQUA portal has more than Bhoomi: hassle-free issuance of land records to kisans of Karnataka (which was then ruled by the Congress) launch a pioneering scheme for complete computerization of land records. Called ‘Bhoomi’, it facilitates easy maintenance and prompt updatation of land records; makes The most crucial official document for any kisan is the one that validates land records tamper proof; provides farmers easy access to their land records; information about his land-holding: the Record of Right Tenancy and RTC and enables usage of this database by courts, banks, private organizations and is required for land transactions, to obtain crop loans, other loans and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The time for issuance of the RTC in Karnataka concessions linked to the size of the land holding. In the manual system, these has been reduced from several days to about 15 minutes. Nearly two crore records are maintained by Village Accountants, who are often exploitative. users have used Bhoomi since its inception in 2000. Since the records are not open for public scrutiny, there is considerable scope for manipulation. The BJP government in Karnataka has considerably improved upon this scheme When the NDA Government was in office at Centre, it helped the Government to make it even more kisan-friendly. 17

eDevelopment 51,000 crore, allocated for various anti-poverty schemes in 2007-08, was spent. A future NDA Government will put in place a robust IT infrastructure, seamlessly connecting the central government, state governments, municipal bodies and panchayats, so that total transparency and accountability is for All ensured at all levels. Those responsible for misappropriating public funds will receive exemplary punishment. • With a view to financial inclusion, every citizen of India would have a Bank Account and there would be direct transfers of welfare funds to beneficiaries. • Every BPL family would be given a free smart mobile phone, which can be used even by illiterate people to access their bank accounts. This will help in T plugging leakages in NREGS and other proverty-eradication scheme. oday we truly live in a global village. But it is also a ‘village’ whose • Special focus on integrating gender justice and social justice for SCs/STs, population is divided between information ‘haves’ and far more OBCs and other weaker sections of society into the larger framework of numerous information ‘have-nots.’ This is true about both India IT-enabled development. and the world. This Digital Divide closely parallels the socio-economic • Universalisation of use of IT in every sector of the economy to enhance divide. The BJP considers this schism to be unacceptable and is committed productivity and employment opportunities. India’s IT and ITES industry, to reducing it to the barest minimum possible. which has until now focused on serving foreign markets, will be encouraged to serve the domestic economy. The BJP will devise policies and strategies for use of IT to achieve the • Food security, water security and energy security are India’s strategic needs. following strategic objectives: We will evolve strategies with long-term and short-term goals, and IT will be employed comprehensively to achieve these goals. • Reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which • Climate Change issues will be addressed with innovative uses of IT and would see crores of people lifted from poverty and able to access Green Technologies. healthcare, education and secure livelihoods and clean drinking water. India has the resources necessary to end the sad state of poverty, Another important goal before a BJP-led government will be to remove the hunger and underdevelopment, provided there is political will to Digital Divide between India and China (see table below). We are determined to vigorously implement measures to promote speedier socio-economic enable India to equal China in every IT parameter in the next five years. development and employment generation in rural as well as urban areas, extension of health care facilities, education, protection of the Parameter (in crores) India China environment. No. of personal computers 2.8 16.2 • Corruption has been the bane of government-funded development No. of broadband subscribers 0.54 8.5 projects in India. The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor No. of internet users 5.2 29.8 General (CAG) has severely indicted the UPA Government for not No. of mobile subscribers 40 65 showing proper accounts of how a whopping amount of over Rs 19

eEducation The dream of a Rs. 10,000-laptop cannot be realised with pre-loaded costly commercial software. Therefore, our Government will actively promote free open-source software, including the operating system, which would also introduce the habit of innovation (‘tinkering’) in the student community. Extending eEducation to the classroom, the BJP promises web-enabled education in every school and college in India. This would create employment Realising Rs. 10,000-laptop and other dreams opportunities for at least 25 lakh new computer teachers and T creators of IT courseware in various Indian languages. Also he BJP believes that we need to create both a available would be a user-generated national knowledge demand for and domestic supply of computer repository (on the likes of Wikipedia) and a user-generated assets—hardware, software, educational material, video sharing platform (like YouTube). Low-cost educational and trained human resources—to make the Digital robots and other innovative learning tools will be introduced. Revolution possible. Recognising that IT-enabled education For higher education particularly, there would be an online has revolutionised both learning and teaching, thereby repository of best lectures by leading academicians from top unleashing the hidden potential of every student, our party institutes. For example, IIT-Bombay’s Distance Education commits itself to making the basic tool of E-education — Program was launched during the NDA rule to provide IT courses laptop computer with internet connection — affordable to a large number of engineering college students in a massively to all students in India. Hence our promise of making scalable manner through VSAT communication. In a nutshell, our available at least one crore top-of-the-line laptops (Core2Duo Government will put IT-enabled education at as high a priority as “roti, or equivalent processor; 2 GB RAM; 250 GB Hard Disk; built- kapda aur makaan” to accelerate the Knowledge Revolution in India. in 2 megapixel webcam, microphone and speakers; Wifi and Bluetooth facilities; and a 13-inch screen) to school and college students at a price Our Government would use distance education and open-university models to point of Rs 10,000 or less. Those who cannot afford to buy the laptop will increase Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in higher education from the current be given an interest-free loan of Rs. 10,000. 11% to 20% in five years. GER in China is over 30%. Another priority of our Government will be IT-enabled skill-development, using distance education and Such a device in today’s market costs over Rs 35,000. So how would it open-university models, for the nearly 95% of India’s workforce in the informal come at a price point of Rs 10,000? The answer is scale and innovation. and unorganised sector who have no formal training. The scale of challenge We have already seen that the scale of demand, coupled with domestic in this area can be gauged from the fact that, as against 8% of the workforce manufacturing, has brought down the cost of a mobile phone to levels in India, 96% of the workforce in South Korea, 75% in Germany and 80% in affordable to the common man. Our Government would therefore insist Japan have skill training. Our Government will increase the number of ITIs in on indigenous and innovation-led manufacturing (not just assembling) of India from 5,000 to 50,000 (China has 500,000). It will involve the private sector laptops and all its parts in India. This would also lay a strong foundation in a big way in implementing skill development in a mission mode. for the IT hardware manufacturing industry in India. 21

eBhasha for development of IT in all the 22 official languages through various convergent media, with following specific measures: • The biggest hurdle in usage of Indian languages is not display, but typing. Typing Indian languages using English letters leads to lot of phonetic and spelling mistakes, which dampens the usage. Our Government will make the Indian language Inscript keyboard, compulsory for manufacturers. • Development of many aesthetic fonts in all Indian languages, which can Giving Indian languages their rightful place in IT interoperate, as in English. Thus, word-processing, blogging and publishing T in Indian languages will become as easy and aesthetic as in English. Software he fruits of IT are being reaped worldwide through various packages for improving handwriting will be promoted. electronic media such as mobile, PC and TV. Convergence of • Making school children proficient in the use of Indian language learning technologies has enabled the Internet to link all of them and tools. Learning resources like digital dictionaries, thesaurus, grammar make an ocean of multiple-use contents accessible to users anytime and checkers and animation games will be made freely available. anywhere in the world. However, the biggest obstacle to the rapid growth • Development of digital courseware in Indian languages for different subjects of IT in India has been the lack of localisation of IT in Indian languages. such as science, history, geography for different classes, as prescribed by the IT in our country operates primarily in English, which is understood by central and state boards. less than 10% of our population. Countries such as China, Japan and • Thanks to freely accessible video-sharing sites like YouTube, and online Korea have successfully ensured that all their electronic media are equally encyclopedia likes Wikipedia, it is possible for students to benefit from proficient in English as well as in their local languages. a huge worldwide repository of knowledge. Our Government will help develop such resources in Indian languages. The BJP is committed to giving Indian languages their rightful place in • Manufacturers of mobile phones will be required to promote rendition of the growth of IT in India. Apart from the enormous economic benefits messaging in Indian languages. that would accrue from this, it would also enhance the users’ social status, • The best medium for making the fruits of IT reach everyone is through strengthen their socio-cultural identity, enrich their mother-tongue, protect the TV medium. Not only does the TV medium reach everyone in all their artistic-literary heritage, and contribute to national integration. geographic regions, its programming is predominantly in Indian languages. Our Government will make it compulsory for DTH service providers and Although the Indian scripts appear diverse, the Indian Standard Code for manufacturers of set-top-boxes and remote controls to promote Indian Information Interchage (ISCII) enables instant “transliteration” of the text languages. This can lead to the best of TV and film content being made content from one Indian script to another. Similarly, the Inscript Keyboard available in multi-language subtitles. allows typing of all the Indian languages using common keys. Sites like • Promotion of online teaching and learning of Sanskrit, which has suffered Google now allow searches in Indian languages, and provide several tools prolonged neglect in independent India. too. The problem today is thus not of possibility, but universalisation of • Development of special software in all Indian languages for the use of usability. blind and hearing-impaired people. This will help in providing them equal access to skill-based education and employment. A future BJP-led Government will launch a National Mission for eBhasha, 23

eHealthcare treatment to be followed. In July 2002, Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the national telemedicine project in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, linking the G.B. Pant Hospital in Port Blair with the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute in Chennai. He observed that the contribution of Indian space scientists in the areas of telemedicine and distance learning Why telemedicine is a priority for BJP outweighed the military applications of space technology. D r. Devi Shetty, a renowned heart surgeon in Bangalore, describes There is huge inequality in health-care distribution in India. Although nearly the need and potential for telemedicine in India in these words: 75% of Indians live in rural villages, more than 75% of Indian doctors are “In terms of disease management, there is a 99% possibility based in cities. A majority of the 70 crore rural Indians lack access to basic that the person who is unwell does not require an operation. If you don’t health care facilities. A recent study shows that 89% of rural Indian patients operate you don’t need to touch the patient. have to travel about 8 km to access basic And if you don’t need to touch the patient, you medical treatment. The problem is more acute don’t need to be there. You can be anywhere, in remote corners of the country. According since the decision on healthcare management to the Planning Commission, India is short of is based on history and interpretation of 600,000 doctors, 10 lakh nurses and 200,000 images and chemistry … So, technically dental surgeons. For every 10,000 Indians, speaking, 99% of health-care problems can be there is barely one doctor available. managed by the doctors staying at a remote place — linked by telemedicine.” Telemedicine is the cheapest and the fastest way to bridge the rural–urban health divide. Telemedicine involves linking hospitals and Hence, the BJP is committed to promoting it health centres in rural or remote areas with in a big way. speciality hospitals in urban areas through communication satellites launched by the Indian Space Research A future BJP-led Government will use IT to promote preventive and Organisation (ISRO). The rural hospital is provided with a television community healthcare extensively. It will encourage Ayurveda, other monitor, computer hardware and specialised software, and some basic traditional Indian systems of medicine, Yoga and naturopathy. India’s animal diagnostic equipment. It is linked via VSAT to a speciality hospital. wealth is enormous, and an important source of livelihood for the rural The patient’s medical records are transmitted to the specialists well in population. Sadly, adequate veterinary services are lacking. IT will be used advance. At the rural hospital, a videoconference is arranged between to remove this inadequacy. the specialists in the city and the patient and doctor at the rural end. The specialists provide diagnosis and advise the doctor on the course of 25

eRecords As a geo-information provider, the Survey of India would create a Geospatial Data Framework, whereby every square metre of Indian territory is mapped, marked and referenced. Further, the Survey of India would work with the Bhuvan Project of ISRO to combine satellite imagery with other economic data. As a standards-setting body, it would lay down the digital architecture for capturing land and property records. GEOGRAPHIC RECORDS A LAND & PROPERTY RECORDS lthough India has a history of over 5,000 years, we, as a nation, The Government of India would finance local bodies to complete digitisation of have not done a good job of land and property records. The BJP plan is to have an effective land registration keeping historical as well as contemporary system and an easily accessible land records system that provides confidence in records. IT has now provided effective real estate dealings. tools for preservation, cataloguing and practical utilisation of records, especially HERITAGE RECORDS in economic development. India’s principal keepers of records, knowledge and cultural artefacts are the Geo-spatial and geo-economic data is crucial to making better economic National Archive, National Library, National Museum, National Gallery of decisions. According to experts, digitised data based on geographical Modern Art and other state-level museums. While all these institutions would information system (GIS) can be used by a huge number of public bodies be modernised and encouraged to exhibit their collections online, the BJP -- from web-based travel services to precise identification of derelict land intends to create a new National Digital Archive & Library (NDAL) as (a) a for house building; from efficient planning of public utilities (such as means to speed up the process of making our information, knowledge and sewage and water pipelines) to increasing property taxes of municipal and heritage resources available online, and (b) lay down a framework for current and panchayat bodies; and from regulating the flow of urban traffic to helping future public-information capture. IT-enabled reservation of India’s traditional the police in crime detection. The private sector could also use this data in knowledge in science, technology, medicine, bio-diversity and its priceless multiple ways, from targeted marketing to calculating insurance risks, and heritage in arts, culture, architecture etc. will be our priority. NDAL would from providing location-based services to developing in-car navigation contain all material in the National Archive that is past the ‘classified’ statute systems. period, as would all books and written material, in all Indian languages, whose copyright has lapsed. NDAL would also contain all public stock photography Sadly, India is yet to unlock the potential of comprehensive GIS-based put out by governmental agencies such as PIB, ISRO, DRDO, etc. Finally, the services. Therefore, the BJP plans to rejuvenate the Survey of India National Manuscripts Mission, launched by the Vajpayee Government, would and convert it from being a mere map-maker to being (a) a 24x7 online be revived and its collection put online by NDAL. geo-information provider, and (b) a standards-setting body for land and property records. 27

eJustice • Computerization of all court-related records and arbitration records with easy searchability. This will help in clubbing similar litigation across courts, across states etc. • Computerization of court judgments, which will lead to standardization of judgments. • Computerization of court calendars, which will minimize constant change of court dates and help citizens avoid unnecessary visits to courts. Making justice delivery work • Computerization of advocates’ records, which will promote transparency in judicial appointments. ‘J ustice for All’ through legal and • Seamless accessibility of court, police, prison and municipal (birth, death, judicial reforms is a priority marriage, etc) records. for the BJP. The strength • Usage of video conferencing for speedier and safer justice mechanism. of democracy is judged by • Promotion of legal literacy among citizens in easily understandable local the capacity of the judiciary languages to deliver equitable, expeditious • Online payment of fines, court fees, alimony, child support. and transparent services to citizens and its • Promotion of Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms such as Lok capability to enforce the rule of law. Of Adalats, assistance of Legal Services Authorities, the Human Rights utmost urgency is the need to remove congestion of cases in various Commission and various civil society organizations. courts in India, which has led to enormous delays in justice delivery. • Encourage knowledge sharing and adoption of global best practices through digital libraries, databases, case management systems, and judicial Reforms in this critical area entail improvement in the quality and efficiency administration systems. of judicial administration; simplification and rationalization of laws and procedures; strengthening the independence as well as accountability of Special emphasis will be placed on problems faced by women, children and judges; upgradation of the physical facilities of the courts; improving legal other disadvantaged sections of the society. Accordingly, use of IT will be education of citizens; improving the standards of lawyers; and expanding expedited in the enforcement of land-related laws, women-related laws, laws access to justice for the poor and other disadvantaged groups. In addition, to protect SC and STs, labour laws and general laws affecting the common what is required is introduction at all levels of the judicial system, tools man in his day-to-day life. Our aim is to provide access to justice through IT of information and communication technologies, which have now made to citizens residing in the rural and semi-urban areas; spread awareness about it possible to deliver justice in a more accessible, affordable, transparent, the roles and responsibilities of the governmental functionaries involved in the effective, quick and citizen-friendly manner. administration of statutes; and also to bring various support agencies such as Legal Aid Cells, Legal Services Authority, social workers (counselors) and other Towards this end, a future NDA Government will do the following: activists closer to ordinary citizens. • Legislation to make judges declare their assets on a regular basis, and the information to be made available online. 29

eSafety attention in the past. On Independence Day 2003, Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the setting up of a Technology Mission for Railway Safety. The mission was launched as a collaboration between Indian Railways, Department of Science & Technology, IIT Kanpur and a consortium of private sector companies. T The goals and objectives of the mission included (i) development and adoption he BJP is committed to enhancing the safety of our citizens. of state-of-art safety and control technologies through projects aimed towards Following the catastrophic earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, the achieving higher throughput, lower cost of transmission and safer train Vajpayee Government had constituted a broadbased committee to movement; (ii) encouraging and initiating indigenous R&D activities pertinent draw up a plan for setting up a National Disaster Management Authority to Indian Railways in academic institutions and laboratories and establish (NDMA). All recommendations of this committed were accepted in convergence and synergy among them; (iii) dissemination of 2003. The groundwork done by the NDA Government helped the UPA technologies through participatory approach to other application Government to introduce, in 2005, the National Disaster Management areas, such as road safety. Act. A future NDA Government will further strengthen the functioning of the NDMA by appropriate use of IT. About a dozen projects have been undertaken under the mission, including Satellite based Rail Navigation (implemented now in nearly We would create a Centrally-funded and managed 70 trains: Rajdhanis and Shatabdis starting from Delhi); Wheel National Emergency Service (NES). The role of the Impact Load Detection System; Improved Wheel Metallurgy NES would be to run a country-wide network of (Wheels & Axles Factory, Durgapur, that had taken up the project contact centres, called Public Safety Answering Points for implementation, reported an improvement of more than 13% in (PASP), that would act as a single point of interface to all wheel life); Anti-corrosive Rails (chemistry being implemented by SAIL); local police, fire and ambulance services. Any person facing Green Toilets (trials in progress in Chennai); and Derailment Prevention an emergency would be able to dial a nationally unique number Mechanisms. (let’s say 123) and have the call routed to the nearest PASP, which would then coordinate with local agencies for immediate despatch of help. India’s neglect of road safety is striking. Each year nearly 80,000 people die in road accidents in our country. In addition to building better roads, many NES would also be used for broadcasting, telephoning and SMSing strong legal, administrative and technological initiatives are required to improve emergency warnings to inhabitants of particular zones that may be facing India’s record of road safety. Rail Safety Mission’s projects have many spin- an imminent crisis (example: the Tsunami of 2004). offs for road safety, such as in the area of GPS-based vehicle tracking and monitoring for roads, control and signalling systems, electronic stability control RAIL & ROAD SAFETY of small cars as well as trucks and buses. The BJP is committed to launching a Technology Mission for Road Safety. Railways have been the prime engine of economic growth and national integration in India. Sadly, railway safety had not received adequate 31

eSecurity neutral standard format (akin to the Global Justice XML Data Model), such that any information can be queried anytime, by any policeman, through any hand-held or desktop computing device. Currently only about 10-15% of the police stations in the country have the necessary physical infrastructure and the competent personnel to enter data into a NCRB-developed software system; in other places such data is entered, if at all, only at the district level. O f the several issues that the BJP consistently espouses, national It is worth mentioning here that, for the first time since Independence, the NDA security has been at the top of our agenda. We believe that while Government (1998-2004) started a fully centrally provided Police Modernisation India needs tough anti-terror laws like POTA, it also needs a Fund to help state police forces. This was one of the several initiatives taken by structuraly integrated top-notch intelligence apparatus, a dynamic law Shri L.K. Advani as the Union Home Minister. enforcement force and, given the sophistication of crimes committed with the help of information technology, a mechanism for digital security. External Security: In an era where cyber space intrusions can be aimed We are inspired by the fact that, due to the enhanced security measures at destroying or degrading critical infrastructure and facilitating terrorist taken after 9/11 terror attacks, the US has not yet had any terror incident communications, use of cyber space for undertaking subversive activities thereafter. can seriously threaten our vital security interests. Countries with adversarial relations to India are already working on doctrines that aim to cripple our Modern Communication Network: The quality of communication communications and information networks, thereby paralyzing our command infrastructure linking the police forces of the various states is rather poor. and control structures in the event of hostilities. Sadly, this is an area that was POLNET, the satellite-based communication network that connects the ignored by the UPA Government at great peril to India’s security concerns. police forces of the various states, is limited in its scope. The BJP believes that, besides building defensive and offensive capabilities for The BJP’s plan is to implement a nation-wide high-bandwidth IP-based, electronic warfare, a coherent policy is required to secure our networks. The GPS-backed, digital trunked radio system, using both optic fibre and National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO), which was established by satellites as backbones. It would connect every policeman to the national the NDA Government and was mandated to undertake these tasks, has been data monitoring center. It would be a converged system that allows for neglected by UPA Government. This needs to be upgraded to build required voice, video and data, in both broadcast and one-to-one mode. Every capabilities. This will not only enable our country to counter the adversaries policeman in the country would carry a standardised handheld system that in cyberspace, but also prove to be an effective platform for interception, would both be a communicator and a computer. intelligence gathering and analysis on a real time basis. Comprehensive Information System: A police communication network While this calls for an integrated National Cyber Security Plan, covering all isn’t even half its worth if it is not coupled with a strong crime information aspects of external defence and internal security, the country also needs an system. The BJP’s plan is to upgrade the National Crime Records Bureau independent Digital Security Agency, responsible for cyber warfare, cyber (NCRB) and, in addition to its role as the national crime database manager, counter-terrorism and cyber security of national digital assets. make it the standards-setting body for all similar state-level bureaux. NCRB and its affiliates will input and store crime-related data in a device- 33

Hardware imported. The BJP is committed to developing a robust electronics and IT hardware industry in order to have a balanced and comprehensive IT industry in the & Hosting country. We propose to set up IT hardware parks with reduced indirect taxation on electronics hardware to spur domestic manufacturing and consumption. In addition, appropriate incentives will be provided to the manufacturers. There will be clarity and certainty in the taxation system, to enable long term investments. We will ensure that India’s domestic hardware industry grows to Industries capture 5% of the global market by 2012. DOMESTIC HOSTING INDUSTRY More than 90% of the servers that host Indian websites are located outside of India. This not only makes Indian websites and therefore Indian businesses T highly dependent on regulations and vagaries of foreign governments, but also he BJP is committed to lowering increases the cost of hosting, since it leads to a much higher consumption of the cost of computing, and expensive international Internet bandwidth. our concerns about the cost of computer hardware and Internet A strong policy, which encourages the hosting industry to relocate to India, hosting is no exception. India has already would help in saving over 50% of the international Internet bandwidth charges. taken the leadership in the software and BPO It would also encourage many related industries to move to India, such as IT industries. Our plan is to make India seize the leadership in hardware and manufacturing industry and shared services industry. hosting as well. It is therefore proposed to have SIZs (Special Internet Zones) connected to a DOMESTIC HARDWARE INDUSTRY high-bandwidth national internet backbone. SIZ’s would guarantee availability of power, fool-proof security and disaster recovery setups between SIZs that In 2007-2008, India’s electronics (IT + industrial & consumer electronics) would be placed is different seismic zones. hardware demand was $36 bn. However, only 50% of that was produced domestically, the rest being imported. Also, what was produced The main running cost of a hosting company is electricity, as it is needed both domestically represents a miniscule 2.5% of the $ 1.5 trillion global to fuel power-hungry servers and to cool the enormous heat generated by them. hardware manufacturing industry. Therefore SIZs would be encouraged to be located in the hill states of North and Northeast India where the cool climate will reduce electricity consumption. Coming specifically to IT hardware (a component of the overall electronics hardware pie), 70% of the $ 10 bn domestic IT hardware requirement is 35

Digital The BJP proposes to create international opinion that the governance of the internet be passed on to an international body, or else ICANN be placed under the jurisdiction of the United Nations. And India as a leading digital economy be given a seat on its governing body. The BJP also proposes to Sovereignty create a new Indian digital standards-setting body that would lead the world in the creation of royalty-free, open standards, and thereby reduce the cost of computing not just in India but all over the world. Dr. Swaminathan’s Information Village: T Internet and satellite at the service of the poor he BJP, as a nationalist party, believes in putting the interests of India first. So whether it is economic sovereignty or nuclear The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation has set up an Information Village project in Pondicherry. In order to deliver benefits of IT to the poor and sovereignty, the BJP stands second to none in protecting our encourage participative action for the spread of technology, the project has national interests. Therefore, when the BJP looks at the unfolding digital connected ten villages near Pondicherry by using modern information and age and examines to what extent the country has retained its digital communications technologies. It has developed software in the local language (Tamil) and other audio-visual features to facilitate illiterate and semi-literate sovereignty, the Party finds that we have not been proactive enough in users. More than 100 databases have been created that provide regularly protecting our rights. Two examples: updated and free-of-cost information to villagers on prices of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides) and outputs (rice and vegetables); citizens’ entitlements under various central and state government programs; • The URL naming (eg: www.example.com) process is controlled health care (including a list of doctors and paramedics in nearby hospitals and by a US-based company called ICANN, completely under US health information specifically related to women); cattle diseases; transport jurisdiction. For every domain name in India, we pay directly or (road conditions and cancellations of bus trips); and weather (the appropriate time for sowing, areas of abundant fish catches, and wave heights on the sea). indirectly to ICANN. That isn’t so much a problem, as the fact that we have no direct or indirect influence on the way URL naming Each center is equipped with three computers, telephones, a printer, a wireless policies are framed. So why taxation without representation? device, and a solar panel. Village volunteers, with a minimum schooling of eight years, are given training for three months. Training pertains to the operation of computers, use of a data and voice network, handling queries from illiterate • The second issue is the whole business of digital standards. Western customers, and the basics of management. The project guarantees access to entities patent various trivial technologies, and then legitimise members of the Dalit population. It also ensures that at least half of the trained volunteer operators are women. As a result, nearly half the users are women. them through international standards organizations such as ISO Village students have used the centers for browsing interactive CDs, designing and IEEE to ensure that the entire world adheres to such standards. slides on PowerPoint, and downloading examination results from the Internet. And by using these ‘standards’, the world ends up paying royalties Because fishermen constitute a majority of the population, information on fish aggregation in the sea is provided by the National Remote Sensing Agency directly or indirectly to western entities that hold the IPR on these and routed through the Information Village project. A perfect example of how technologies. If we don’t pay for using physical standards like technology can benefit the masses. meter, gram, litre, etc., what is the logic of paying royalties for digital standards? 37

IT for Development The BJP’s IT Vision will help India: 1. Overcome the current economic crisis; 2. Create productive employment opportunities on a large scale; 3. Accelerate human development through vastly improved and expanded education and healthcare services; 4. Check corruption and 5. Make India’s national security more robust. Bharatiya Janata Party 11, Ashok Road, New Delhi - 110001 website: www.bjp.org www.lkadvani.in Printed by Excelprint C-36, F.F. Complex, Jhandewalan, New Delhi - 110055

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L.K. Advani - BJP's IT Vision - Transforming Bharat

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